SERVICES

Tuesday August 31, 2010

The Black Cats Upset Man City

Blackburn Rovers 1 Arsenal 2

Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin struck as Arsenal ran out winners at Ewood Park.
Walcott, recalled by England coach Fabio Capello this week for the forthcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers, fired a stunning 19th-minute opener as the Gunners worked hard to take all three points.
Walcott was sent scampering clear down the right flank by a fine ball from Robin van Persie before cutting inside and ramming a low shot past Paul Robinson.
Rovers made life hard for Arsene Wenger's men and Mame Diouf's 26th-minute equalizer was the least they deserved before Arshavin won it for the visitors in the 51st minute.

Blackpool 2 Fulham 2

Dickson Etuhu ended an exciting encounter with an 87th-minute equalizer for Fulham.
Bobby Zamora opened the scoring for Fulham before going off with a knock in the second half.
Etuhu had the final word but Blackpool have now taken a heartening four points from three matches in the top flight.

Chelsea 2 Stoke City 0

It did not rain goals at Stamford Bridge for a change but Florent Malouda and Didier Drogba still came up with two vital strikes to keep Chelsea's 100 per cent record intact at the top of the Premier League.
Malouda expertly converted a first-half opportunity with his right foot against a Stoke City side made of much sterner stuff than the Tony Pulis team who surrendered seven at the Bridge back in April.
And Drogba supplied the coup de grace with a second-half penalty after Thomas Sorensen had brought down Nicolas Anelka.

Tottenham Hotspur 0 Wigan Athletic 1

Wigan Athletic put their horrendous start to the season behind them with a smash-and-grab victory at Tottenham Hotspur.
Hugo Rodallega scored the winner 10 minutes from full-time after Carlo Cudicini allowed the winger's tame shot to squirm past him.
It was a remarkable result for a Latics side who had conceded 10 goals in their opening two matches and nine in the corresponding fixture last season.

Wolves 1 Newcastle United 1

Andy Carroll took his goal tally to four in the last two matches to rescue a deserved point for Newcastle United in an incident-packed match with Wolves at Molineux.
Carroll followed up his hat-trick against Aston Villa by cancelling out Sylvan Ebanks-Blake's second goal of the campaign - as many as he managed in the whole of last season.
Newcastle had enough opportunities to secure a second win of the season, but Wolves maintained their unbeaten start.
This was an old-fashioned blood and thunder type of encounter with the tackles flying in from both sides throughout the 90 minutes. Wolves had seven players booked and Newcastle five.
The Magpies demolished managerless Villa 6-0 last weekend and they created plenty of chances against Mick McCarthy's side.
Skipper Kevin Nolan, in particular, will feel he should have been more clinical in front of goal on at least two occasions.
Carroll gave more glimpses of his potential and was a constant source of danger.
But Wolves have developed a never-say-die attitude under McCarthy and this was typified by captain Karl Henry's driving display in midfield.

Manchester United 3 West Ham United 0

Wayne Rooney ended his five-month wait for a goal as he set Manchester United on their way to a comfortable win over West Ham United.
Rooney's 33rd-minute penalty after Jonathan Spector had fouled Ryan Giggs will hardly enter his personal hall of fame.
But it ends the talk of his scoring drought and should go some way to easing the 24-year-old back to top form after a slow start to the season.
Second-half efforts from Nani and Dimitar Berbatov, who took his tally to three in four matches, sealed victory to keep United in touch with early pace-setters Chelsea.
But for West Ham, the international break only provides further opportunity to worry.
Without a point under Avram Grant's stewardship, the Hammers are now bottom of the table and facing a fight to preserve their top-flight status.

Bolton Wanderers 2 Birmingham City 2

Kevin Davies and Robbie Blake struck from set-pieces as 10-man Bolton Wanderers came from two down to claim a draw in a fiery contest with Birmingham City.
Blues defender Roger Johnson began an eventful afternoon at the Reebok Stadium with an early opener before getting involved in an incident that saw Bolton goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen sent off.
Johnson had challenged Jaaskelainen for the ball just before half-time and the Finn appeared to slap him in the face as they regained their feet.
Craig Gardner doubled Birmingham's lead but Bolton responded to the challenge to maintain their unbeaten start to the campaign.
Davies replied with a penalty after a foul by the ubiquitous Johnson and veteran Blake levelled with a stunning late free-kick.

Liverpool 1 West Bromwich Albion 0

Striker Fernando Torres underlined his quality - and importance to Liverpool - with a brilliant strike to defeat 10-man West Bromwich Albion at Anfield.
Two knee operations at the back-end of last season and a late return from the World Cup have impacted on the 26-year-old's fitness and match sharpness.
But a clinical strike midway through the second half - his first Premier League goal since 28th March and 50th at Anfield in all competitions - proved too good for promoted West Brom.

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 0

Darren Bent's injury-time penalty condemned Manchester City to their first defeat of the season as a glaring miss left Carlos Tevez red-faced.
The Sunderland striker converted the spot-kick in the fourth minute of added time to snatch all three points after being hauled down by Micah Richards in front of goal.
Bent's strike was the Black Cats' reward for a concerted second-half fightback after Tevez had let them off the hook with an astonishing early miss.
The Argentinian fired high over an open goal after being played in by Yaya Toure, and the visitors were made to pay as the points slipped away.

Aston Villa 1 Everton 0

Luke Young scored his first goal for nearly two years to earn Aston Villa victory over Everton and boost caretaker manager Kevin MacDonald's chances of becoming Martin O'Neill's successor.
The former England defender, who rejected a move to Liverpool earlier this month, dealt a blow to the other side of Merseyside with his ninth-minute winner.
It was Villa's second league win under MacDonald as they bounced back from their Europa League exit at the hands of Rapid Vienna.